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The
August 15-18, 2002 Minutes of the LCMS Board Directors raise questions
about the use of 911 relief funds by the Atlantic District. There
were also questions about efforts to raise legal fees for the Benke
Defense Fund outside the Atlantic District.
This writer has refused to turn over names and addresses as requested by
the Benke Defense Fund. The Benke Defense Fund identifies its legal
counsel as:
Alan R. Pollack
APollack@capvish.com
Capell & Vishnick, LLP
3000 Marcus Avenue
Lake Success, NY 11042
516-437-4385 ext. 116
Fax: 516-437-4395
The May/June issue of "The Correspondent/Bond" magazine,
published jointly by AAL and LB (now the "Thrivent" Insurance
Company) reported on page 21 that AAL/LB provided 10.7 million dollars to
victims of the 911 terrorist attacks. The LCMS "Reporter"
stated that 3.5 million dollars was donated from all sources in the LCMS.
In a similar fashion, the ELCA raised 6.5
million dollars for 911 relief in New York.
The questions are, "Where are these funds?", "Who has these
funds?", and "To whom are these funds being distributed?"
Reclaim News sources in Florida report that questions about these funds
were already forwarded to members of the LCMS Board of Directors in June
2002.
The following are the minutes of the LCMS Board of Directors dealing with
the disposition of 911 relief funds and the Benke Defense Fund:
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MINUTES
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH--MISSOURI SYNOD
August 15-18, 2002
Chicago, Illinois
66. Correspondence Items
Chairman Robert Kuhn shared two letters that he received recently
pertaining to actions taken by the International Lutheran Laymen's League
and Lutheran Hour Ministries. After discussion, the Secretary was asked to
respond to the letters on the basis of the action taken by the Board in
this regard.
The chairman shared correspondence received recently regarding a mailing
from the Atlantic District sharing September 11th materials and soliciting
funds outside the District. In the discussion that followed it was
noted that most of the concerns raised should be addressed directly to the
Atlantic District. The Secretary was asked to respond to the letter
accordingly. Discussion continued regarding some of the concerns
raised by the mailing. A brief explanation of the corporate
structure of Lutheran Disaster Relief of New York was provided by
Vice-President-Finance--Treasurer Tom Kuchta. The Board took the
following action:
Resolved, That the Board ask the Chief Administrative Officer and the
Vice-President-Finance--Treasurer to contact the Atlantic District to
obtain as much information as possible and to evaluate whether there are
tax or legal consequences; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Administrative Officer evaluate the Board's
policies and the Bylaws and, if necessary, report back to the Board by its
next meeting with appropriate policy changes that would require Board of
Directors' approval before any District could engage in any fundraising
activities outside that particular District.
The chairman shared a letter that raised concerns regarding the use of
lawyers and the existence of a legal defense fund in a dispute case.
In the discussion that followed, President Gerald Kieschnick informed the
Board regarding communications with David Benke, the Board of Directors of
the Atlantic District, the Board of Regents of Concordia College
Bronxville. He assured the Board that concerns raised in the letter
have been and will be addressed again. The letter was given to the
President for a response. After further discussion of compensation issues
in light of Bylaw 8.21 c, the Board took the following action:
Resolved, That the Board of Directors request that the Treasury/Risk
Management Office address the indemnification issue with the Atlantic
District Board of Directors. |